Non-carbon nanotube

Okay kiddo, so you know how some things are really really tiny, like the bugs you can barely see or the crumbs on the table? Well, things can be even tinier than that! They are so small that we call them "nanomaterials".

A nanotube is one type of nanomaterial. It's like a tiny straw made out of molecules. Most nanotubes are made of carbon, which is a type of element. But sometimes, scientists can make nanotubes out of other things, like metals or plastic. When they do this, we call them "non-carbon nanotubes".

Non-carbon nanotubes can be used in all sorts of ways. For example, they can help make electronics work better, or they can make really strong materials that we can use to build things like planes or cars. Scientists are always trying to find new and useful ways to use nanotubes, both carbon and non-carbon ones.